The Breakfast Club
by Helena Colt
Summary: The princess, the basket case, the athlete, the brain, the criminal...and John's love? Reedited thanks to some critics, thegranddisciple thanks so much! I hope you like this one better!


Bradley Harris closed her eyes as her father parked the car at the front entrance. "Why are you here, Bradley? Again?" Bradley shook her head. Her stringy brown hair fell down in her face, hiding her fresh new black eye. "I ASKED WHY YOU WERE HERE!" her father yelled, and she realized too late that she should have answered the first time. She felt a sharp sting across her face, and yelped as her father poked her split, swollen cheek. "Don't you dare make a sound." Her father clamped a hand over her mouth, looking deep into her green eyes with his sadistic muddy brown ones, and held her stare until finally he pushed her back, reached across her, and opened the door. "Don't come home!" He yelled, and Bradley stumbled out of the car, hair in her face and nearly falling to the ground as the rusted car sped away, wheels squealing. "Watch it, bitch." Bradley was shoved aside as someone stalked past her and kicked open the door. "You watch it." She answered quietly, sniffing away her tears. She vaguely realized that she'd just answered back to John Bender, the other regular rebel. He stared at her with dark eyes and a furrowed brow as she walked meekly past him and to the library. Catching up with her, he ran a hand through her hair. "Hey _Bradley_." he stressed her name and then swore as she grabbed his hand and sunk her sharp nails into it. "Fuck!" She ran away from him as he lunged at her and fell into a corner of the library. Still glaring, John crashed down into a seat just as Principal Vernon walked into the room. The door was pushed open and slammed against the wall as he walked in.

"Eight hours. You do not move from this room." Vernon growled, eyes gleaming and suddenly reminding Bradley of her father. "You got that?" Andrew saw Vernon's eyes slide over him and look at John Bender and Bradley Harris in turn - he now knew who the regulars were. Bender and Bradley both stared defiantly up at Vernon, and he walked up to Bender first, and then Harris, facing them both with a look in his eyes that promised he'd see them again. "Eight...eight hours. Is that clear, Bender?" "Crystal." "Harris? You hear me?" "Yeah." He walked up to her and pulled her hair painfully back from her face. Claire and Andrew, Brian and Allison stifled gasps as her black eye was revealed. John Bender just looked at her with a kind of curiosity in his dark eyes. "Fighting, were we?" Vernon asked. "Well, that's another week." Bradley shook her head. "No...please, don't...I'll be good…" John looked at the tough girl in astonishment. He'd been in detention just as many weeks as her, and she'd never begged Vernon for anything -he had assumed by now that she wasn't the kind of person to beg for anything. Vernon turned away from the crying Bradley and started walking towards the door, and John knew on impulse what he had to do to try and save her pride. "Sir, " Vernon turned as John stood. "Does Barry Manilow know that you raided his closet?" "I'll give you the answer to that next Saturday." Vernon said harshly, walking out the open door and to his office across the hall. They sat there in silence for a moment, John and Bradley contemplating their next detentions, the rest of them astonished that two people could be so rude to a school official. Claire started as John kicked over his chair and leapt on top of the desk, where he perched, looking at the students. "What are you doing?" Claire turned incredulously to him. "We can't have a party if the doors are open!" John answered. He turned to Bradley, whistling, and she whipped her head down in a very Allison-like way, pushing her hair back into her face. "Do your work, hon." He crossed the room to Bradley and ran his fingers down her cheek, gently. She growled and stood up so fast that she upset the chair next to her. "Don't touch me." She snarled. Walking to the door (Brian noticed she was wearing two different boots) Bradley checked the hall for Vernon before picking at one of the screws on the door and unscrewing it with her nail. "Don't do that!" Claire said. "Um, that's school property." Brian tried. "Does it look like a give a shit?" Bradley whispered, nearly inaudible. John scrutinized her again. He'd been in detention with her for as long as he could remember, and she'd never been this...different. He'd never bothered to talk to her, or care about her, but he still could tell that something was wrong. That wasn't a fight, was it Bradley, he thought. You weren't in a fight. He wasn't sure, but he knew something was wrong.

Seconds after the door crashed closed, Vernon jogged through the halls back to the library and could hear Claire and Andrew yelling at John. Bradley had curled up in a corner of the library and was trying hard not to cry. John was, meanwhile, disregarding the princess and the athlete and staring at Bradley, trying to get her attention and to annoy her, and knowing that it would. "STOP STARING, BITCH!" She yelled as Vernon walked into the room. He stood there in surprise for a moment at Bradley's outburst, and then decided to address the real problem. "Why the hell is the door closed?!'" He asked. He looked at John first, and then Bradley. "Which one of you did it?" Bradley looked at Allison, Brian, Andrew, Claire, and finally John with scared eyes. "The door just closed by itself." Andrew said, pitying Bradley and meeting Vernon's eyes with his own blue ones. "Maybe it was a loose nail." John protected her next, putting his feet on the table. Bradley buried her head in her arms and her shoulders shook. ""I know one of you did it. I didn't catch you in the act this time, but I will. And when I do…" Vernon left the threat hanging in the air and tried propping the door open with a chair. "The door is way too heavy, sir." John said, sneaking a glance at Bradley, who hadn't moved. Even when the door slammed and the chair fell and Vernon's loud curse was heard right through the heavy wood, Bradley didn't move.

John sighed. He'd been sitting in the library full of bored kids for an hour, but Bradley still wouldn't acknowledge him, and he'd given up ages ago trying to agitate Andrew and Claire; he'd run out of virgin jokes. On a whim, he started to whistle Colonel Bogey's March, and to his astonishment everyone joined in, even Bradley. However, Vernon suddenly crashed into the room - Bender started to whistle Beethoven's Fifth and he cursed softly when he saw that Bradley was curled up in the corner again. "You have 30 minutes for lunch." Vernon stood at the front of the room and watched as everyone took out their lunches. "I'll be back." He turned and left, looking back once more to make sure no one - Bender - was mocking him behind his back. When he'd gone for real, John made some witty quips about sushi and everyone watched as Allison made her sandwich, and then John sat next to Brian and played with his food. Then...everyone turned to Bradley as her stomach growled loudly, but they simultaneously noticed she was empty-handed. Ashamed at being so selfish, everyone turned away from her and back towards John as he started doing imitations of Brian's "perfect" family. Andrew took a deep breath, thinking over his next words, and said to John, "What about your family?" Though no one was paying attention now, Bradley lifted her head and looked wide-eyed at John as he crudely imitated his father, ending the scene with his "father" punching him. Everyone was silent for a moment until Andrew snorted. "Yeah, right, it's all part of your image. You're bullshitting us."

"What?"

John's eyes went dark. "Did I stutter?" Andrew asked, irritable. John pulled up his shirtsleeve and held his arm, marred by a cigar-burn, in front of Andrew's face. Claire turned away, disgusted. "That sorta looks like a cigar burn, doesn't it, Sporto?" John spat cruelly in the athlete's face. "See that's what you get when you spill paint in the garage...Did...I..stutter?" He yanked down his shirtsleeve and started walking towards the back of the library. "I don't think I wanna hang out with you fuckin' dildos anymore!" The room was silent again as John walked past a stack of books on a desk, and then backtracked and swept them all off the table, screaming. He climbed onto the desk and jumped to the stairs, turning away from the rest of the kids and dangling his feet over the stairs. He rested his head against the wooden-plank handrail, fighting the tears he'd been fighting for so long. He suddenly felt a rush of air as someone sat down beside him, and he closed his eyes, head still resting on the cool wood. "Headache?" Bradley Harris asked. John thought about telling her to leave him alone, but on second thought he was tired of being alone, so he answered quietly, "Yeah." As if she was reading his mind, Bradley asked, "Why are you alone all the time?" John became defensive. "I got friends." But even as he said it, his eyes filled with the dreaded tears. "No they're not John. Not really." "I know." He answered. After a moment of thought, he added, "I'm alone because no one understands me. No one ever will." "See this?" Bradley motioned to her eye, and John scoffed. "How could you not?" Bradley turned away from John, tears slipping down her cheeks, until John put a hesitant hand on her shoulder. "I-I'm sorry...I guess." Bradley, seeing that this was as close as John could get to a sincere apology, turned back to him. "It was my dad. He did it. This morning...before he kicked me out." "Whaddaya mean?" John asked, looking into her dark green eyes with his dark brown ones. "He told me to get out...and to never come back. I'm gonna be the only high schooler living on the streets!" She rested her head on the wood next to John, closing her eyes and starting to cry. John's eyes widened as she started to sob, putting a hand over her mouth. Her shoulders shook, and for the first time John wanted a someone to like him. Not, like, lay him, but just to like him so he didn't have to be alone. He wanted someone in his miserable life to...dare he even say it?...love him. "That sucks." John said. Bradley smiled weakly. "Yeah, it does."

"Okay, I'm going to get my lunch."

Bender sat at his desk again, this time with Bradley beside him, and the rest of the group stared at him. "What? Where is it?" Claire asked. Bender opened the door and peered into Vernon's office - empty. "In my locker."

Bradley and John walked quietly through the hallway, accompanied quickly by Claire, Andrew, Brian, and lastly Allison, and they stopped at the locker that had OPEN AND DIE FAG scribbled on it. John motioned for Bradley to get back and opened the locker - a guillotine-blade looking thing slid down, accompanied by clumps of what looked like dirt. Claire, Andrew, and Bender stared down at the mess, but Bradley and Allison were more preoccupied with seeing what was in the small bag that Bender was unrolling from many bigger ones. "Lunch." Bender held the clear bag up - the effect was instantaneous. "Jesus, the kid's got marijuana!" Brian exclaimed. "Put it back!" Claire hissed. "Hold this for me, okay?" Brian yelped as Bender shoved the bag into his underwear. "Guys, Vernon could come back at any moment!" Andrew reminded them. "Right. Follow me!" "No! This way!" The students were torn between Andrew and Bender for a moment, unsure of which to trust, but Claire broke ranks and dashed after Andrew down the hall. Brian followed, and then Allison - Bradley stood there just looking at Bender. "Sorry." She whispered before following Andrew and the others down the hall. "God _damn_ it!" Bender followed them.

"No!" Bradley cried as the kids hit metal bars drawn over the lunchroom entrance. "What do we do now! We're all gonna get caught!" Claire asked, fear in her eyes. a reckless sense came over Bender. "No." He said. "Just me!" He started running through the halls, crashing into lockers and singing, "I wanna be an airborne ranger, I wanna lead a life of danger, before the day I die, there's five things I wanna ride! Bicycle, tricycle, automobile...Vernon's mother and a ferris wheel..." They all stood in awe for a moment before Bradley yelled, "Let's _go!_" The others started running wildly back to the library.

Only Bradley hesitated, listening for the sounds of Bender's voice.

"Let me explain, sir!" John was pushed roughly into the library by Vernon, and the rest of the club, now safely with an alibi, stared as John went back to his chair and grabbed up his coat. "Mr. Bender will be spending the rest of this detention away from you." Vernon grabbed his arm, but Bender jerked it away. "Don't FUCKIN' touch me!" he shouted. Andrew and Claire watched John's dark eyes closely; to Claire they were like an animal's eyes, but Andrew saw a flicker of an almost agonized concern as he glanced towards Bradley, whose green eyes mirrored the emotion. "Wait!" Vernon and John turned as Bradley called to them. "What is it, Harris?" Vernon asked, eyes seething. Bradley stepped up to John, eyes shining with malice. "I just wanted to tell you, Bender, that you're a disrespectful, worthless guy who's gonna end up in jail sometime soon. I hate your guts, and I wouldn't want to spend another minute with you." John's eyes flashed different emotions, one after the other: anger, fear, regret, pain, and deep sadness. "Good. Me neither." He answered. Vernon's eyes flashed sadistically. "Tell ya what." He grabbed John's arm and Bradley's arm. "Let's get rid of both of you for a long, long time." He led them both down the hallway and half-threw the students into the janitor's closet. "I'll let you out when time is up." Bradley and John both stood in silence as the lock on the door clicked.

"What the fuck was that about?"

A single tear slipped down John's cheek as Bradley turned to him. "I knew-" "You knew nothin'! What the FUCK was that?!" Bradley tried to take John's hand, but he whipped it out of her grip and sat down on a pile of boxes. "John, hear me out! I was trying to-" "I don't have to listen to shit!" John said, starting to knock down boxes and bins. "JOHN BENDER LISTEN TO ME GODDAMNIT!" Bradley yelled, slapping John across the face. John's eyes blazed. "What did you just d-" "It was a plan, you asshole!" Bradley yelled. "I knew he'd put me in with you if I said I hated you!" John stood stock-still and stared wide-eyed. "What?" "USE YOUR HEAD, DUMBASS!" Bradley shouted. "Why would you do that?" John stepped closer to Bradley, and she wouldn't meet his eyes. "Because… I didn't want you to be alone…" "I don't want to be alone." He answered.


End file.
